Ask A Geek

Q: How do I restore my Toshiba laptop to factory settings it has Windows Vista?

Q: I recently had to have my laptop fixed after it went wrong. I am on windows vista, and have norton 360 which had to be renewed once my laptop was fixed. This of course meant all my songs and pictures etc were all deleted. These files should have been backed up with Norton, so i was wondering, how do i get my files back?? please help

Q: I have a registered copy of MS Office Ultimate 2007 loaded on my computers but my disc is gone. If I ever have to dump and reload my computer I won’t be able to reload Office. I can’t seem to find a trial version of Office Ultimate to download so that I can enter my product code to make it work.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can have access to my software if I have to reload it? I called Microsoft and they were no help. They wanted me to appear in the same store where it was purchased with a receipt in order to get another disc. It was purchased in WA and I live in OH.

Q: I downloaded a crack and ran the .reg. Then I tried to defragment my disk. After that it seems like my sony Vaio (CR353) running vista home premium crashed. The computer boots up to a blue screen with some errors. When I boot up it shows me two options:

(a) repair

(b) start windows normally

If I chose repair it says-comp will go to the factory settings. If I chose start windows normally”- again the blue screens comes. It’s not even opening in the safe mode.

I tried to open in safe mode, safe mode with command prompt, and all other safe mode options but all of them lead to the blue screen.

I don’t want to format my hard drive. It has lots of movies and software I don’t want to lose. Is there anyway I can make a backup now? Is there anyway to fix this?

Q: I have a .vhd complete PC backup file that I recovered from a crashed HD. I’m having trouble mounting one of the files. Is it possible to run CHKDSK on it to try and repair the file?

Q: I recently switched from cable to DSL. I have three computers. This PC is older with 11g hard drive. I installed free AVG virus program scan found 6 infections. Now I can’t access things like “RUN”, “RESTORE”, or windows update. I can access the Internet. Also the email page on ATT inbox page is so huge only a few letters show. I have lost my Windows XP disc. Should I run Restore from the CC program I just downloaded?

Q: My husband’s computer is behaving badly. I cleaned the disk and defragged. Have tried 3 times to restore to past dates but it never completes. Why?

Q: Last night my laptop locked up on me and I shut it off. This morning I brought the computer back up and Windows works and I am able to get on the Internet. My only problem is my pictures, videos, music, and documents are not there. Just wondering if there is anything I can do before taking it to a shop to be worked on.

Q: I recently had a problem with my Dell Dimension 4700 desktop. I followed instructions given to me by Dell’s paid support service, only to discover that following Dell’s instructions had reset my computer back to factory settings and erased all of my files! Could you recommend the best software to try and recover it my music, photos, and documents?

A: It may be possible to recover some or even all of your lost data. I recommend that you download & install a free data recovery program called Recuva. Read the rest of this entry »

Q: How do I fix a corrupted registry in Windows XP?

A: I have used a product called RegCure before and it has fixed my problems but if you do not want to buy anything I found another quick fix is to perform a system restore to a point before it became corrupt.

If you are going to need to perform a System Restore you need to:

1. Click Start.

2. Click All programs.

3. Click Accessories.

4. Select System Tools.

5. Choose System Restore.

6. From this point you will have to follow the prompts to select the Restore point but it will guide you well through the process easily.